This magnum opus from a popular syndicated columnist puts events of the past year into perspective, and offers a strategy for the future.

What passes for the great Middle East debate in Washington centers upon whether the Bush administration is "doing enough." The president is criticized for not "engaging" in Middle East diplomacy. The fact that the last such presidential engagement -- the Camp David debacle of July 2000 -- led directly to the worst fighting and the worst Arab-Israeli crisis in 20 years seems not to deter the critics. Mindlessly, the call to "do more" grows.

What does "doing" mean? If anything, it means sending high-level people over to jawbone. But we know the futility of this approach. The Clinton administration wooed and cooed Yasser Arafat for eight years. He was invited to the White House more often than any leader in the entire world. And what did America get in return for this diplomatic largesse? More leverage with Arafat? Precisely the opposite. Clinton's obsessive intervention and eternally open door showed Arafat that there was no price to be paid for either humiliating the United States, as he did at Camp David, or plunging the region into crisis, as he did weeks later when he began his now year-long guerrilla war against Israel.

The Bush administration, to its credit, has fallen into the "doing something" trap only once, when President Bush sent CIA director George Tenet in June to broker a cease-fire that never took. He then sent secretary of state Colin Powell to bolster the fictional cease-fire even as it collapsed around him. After that acutely embarrassing exercise in futility, Powell left. Wisely, he has not returned.

The other notion about "doing something," emanating mostly from the Europeans, is to send some kind of international force, including Americans, to observe and peacekeep.

We have been here before, but no one seems to remember. Everyone remembers that 241 American servicemen were massacred in Beirut during the last American peacekeeping operation (as were 58 French paratroopers, killed in a similar suicide bombing). No one remembers how we got there.

Arafat was invited to the White House more often than any leader in the entire world. America got humiliated in return.

We went there to rescue Arafat and protect Palestinians. Here is how it happened: After years of being attacked by the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon, Israel invaded in 1982. Yasser Arafat and his PLO soon found themselves surrounded in Beirut by Israeli forces. Having overplayed his hand, Arafat asked for rescue. U.S., French, and Italian forces were sent to evacuate Arafat and his troops to Tunisia. The rescuers then withdrew. They were shortly sent back, however, after Christian Lebanese massacred Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla. The Westerners returned to protect the Palestinians. They stayed to pacify the region and became sitting ducks for Islamic terrorists. After the French and Americans were massacred, they all finally sailed away.

Sound familiar? Arafat initiates violence, openly provoking an Israeli military reaction. Facing massive counterforce, he calls for international peacekeepers to save the Palestinians. How did it end last time? Badly.

Arafat is the master of bringing in others to save him from wars that he starts. And he wants to do it again. For the West to fall into that trap is truly insane. But such is the anti-Israel feeling in Europe and the Arab world that the idea has gained much currency -- so much, in fact, that the Bush administration has had to fend it off, single-handed, in the Security Council.

As it should. An observer or peacekeeping force would be a deathtrap for outsiders. It would do nothing to end the current guerrilla war. It would only fortify the Palestinians, giving them a wall of international protection behind which to take shelter as they prepare yet more terrorist attacks within Israel. How would international peacekeepers stop Palestinian suicide bombers from infiltrating, when Israelis, who live there and know every nook and cranny of the place, cannot?

II. THE OSLO ILLUSION

What then to do? The beginning of wisdom is to understand how we got here. The premise of Oslo was "land for peace." It is now clear that Arafat's intention from the beginning was "land for war" -- to use whatever West Bank and Gaza territory he would be granted in any "peace" as a base for waging war against Israel proper.

"I don't believe that Arafat ever really gave up violence as a tool to achieving his objectives," outgoing ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk confessed in his parting interview with the Jerusalem Post, published on July 6. It took Indyk and the rest of the American "peace team" eight years -- and oceans of blood -- to figure this out. This is diplomatic malpractice that verges on manslaughter. Nonetheless, the fact that these congenital Panglosses have themselves finally come to this conclusion -- after constantly, vociferously, belligerently maintaining otherwise -- makes it unanimous: That pledge of nonviolence, made in Arafat's famous September 1993 letter to Yitzhak Rabin in the Oslo accords, the foundation of the whole "peace process," was a fraud and deception from the very beginning.

Oslo's basic premise was even more fundamentally violated. After all, it was not "land for cease-fire"; it was "land for peace." Meaning, not just nonviolence, but recognition by the Palestinians and the Arab world of the legitimacy of Israel.

We now know, eight sorry years later, that the PLO's recognition of Israel was just paper, without an ounce of true intent -- a token to be withdrawn as soon as Israel had exhausted its grant of extraordinary and irreversible concessions. Having outlived its usefulness, the "recognition" has been openly and boldly repudiated.

Not only do the Palestinians speak candidly to their own public and the world of taking all of Palestine and destroying Israel; not only has the Arab world broken the few low-level relations it opened during the Oslo interlude; not only does the Arab League threaten to revive the Arab boycott; not only do even pro-Western Arab states, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, talk of making war on Israel again; but even the basest of anti-Semitic calumnies, the "Zionism is racism" canard, has been resurrected -- at a U.N. conference on racism, no less. The mask of "recognition" is off.

Oslo's basic premise was not just nonviolence, but recognition of the legitimacy of Israel.

Again, the self-deception by Israeli doves and American foreign policy elites is, in retrospect, simply staggering. From the very beginning, Palestinian officials flaunted their nonacceptance of Israel and their disdain for the "peace" they had signed. Within months of Oslo, in a speech in South Africa, Arafat analogized Oslo to the treaty that Mohammed signed with the Quraysh. It proved very temporary and soon led to the tribe's final conquest by Mohammed's forces. At every opportunity, Arafat insisted that the Oslo peace accords were only a means, and that if they did not get him what he wanted, he would revert to "other means."

By the end of the eight years, the Palestinians were no longer speaking in code or by analogy. At a conference earlier this year in Lebanon, that much-celebrated Palestinian "moderate" Faisal Husseini (who died of a heart attack shortly thereafter) explained why the Palestinians had accepted only a relatively small amount of land with Oslo. Not in order to make peace with Israel, but, on the contrary, in order to establish a territorial base from which to fight and destroy Israel. The objective, he said openly, has always been "Palestine from the river to the sea." Meaning from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean: no Israel.

The irony is that there is nothing new here. This is precisely the program laid out by the Palestinians in the 1974 Cairo "Phased Plan." In it, the Palestine National Council decided to accept any piece of land within Greater Palestine as Phase One, from which to carry on Phase Two, the war for the extinction of Israel.

III. ARAFAT'S WAR

We are now at Phase Two. This is the war Arafat has coveted all his life: the war against Israel from within Palestine. He tried first to make war from Jordan and was expelled in 1970. He then tried to make war from Lebanon and was expelled in 1982. And then in 1993, the miracle: Israel itself, in a fit of reckless high-mindedness unparalleled in the annals of diplomacy, brought him back to Palestine, gave him control of 98 percent of the Palestinian population, armed his 40,000 "police" (i.e. army), and granted him international legitimacy, foreign aid, and the territorial base of every city in the West Bank and Gaza.

Yet there are still observers in the West who remain puzzled by Arafat's war. Taken in by Oslo for the entire eight years, the New York Times' Tom Friedman, for example, now rationalizes the collapse of his illusions by characterizing Arafat's war as senseless and self-defeating, "a grievous error" and an "idiotic uprising."

This analysis is sheer nonsense. The war is the war Arafat always wanted. He has just seen Israel, facing guerrilla war in Lebanon, abjectly surrender and withdraw unilaterally. And now, after a year of his own guerrilla war within Palestine, the balance of forces with Israel has shifted dramatically in his favor.

Israel is dazed and reeling -- economically, diplomatically, and politically. Above all, psychologically. Israelis are afraid. They are afraid to send their children to the mall. They are afraid to go to the movies. They are afraid to drive the open road. And even worse, they are demoralized. They have lost hope. The illusion that assuaging the Palestinians and granting them their own state would bring peace is shattered. The hope behind that illusion -- to demilitarize Israeli society, to relax its isolation, to live without fear -- has utterly evaporated. Israelis see nothing but indefinite struggle, continued bloodletting, for the endless future.

Military reserve service has been extended. Tourism, a mainstay of the economy, is dead. Unemployment is at the highest level in Israeli history. The United States has issued an advisory for its citizens not to visit the area. People are so afraid to go to Israel that British Air, Swissair, KLM, and Lufthansa forbid their pilots who fly there to stay overnight.

Israel is not just suffering, it is isolated. The vilification of Israel, temporarily moderated during the Oslo interlude, has resumed full force at the United Nations, the Arab League, and in Europe. Egypt and Jordan have withdrawn their ambassadors. The tentative ties Israel had established with moderate Arab states like Morocco, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates have been cut. At the Durban conference on racism, dozens of countries will join not only to brand Zionism as racism but to devalue the Holocaust by deliberately using the word to apply to a myriad of other national tragedies.

Three Israeli soldiers are kidnapped by Lebanese terrorists in a raid that brazenly crosses the U.N.-drawn frontier between Lebanon and Israel. Not only is the world silent. But the U.N. conceals film of the kidnapping from Israel, the victim country -- film that might have helped it find its soldiers or track down the perpetrators.

Israel stands alone, except for the United States. Yet even the United States speaks the language of moral equivalence in the face of a war begun by the Palestinians after rejecting a generous peace. For eight years, the Clinton administration urged Israel to take "risks for peace" with solemn assurance that the United States would stand behind it. "Today I come to Israel to fulfill a pledge I made," declared President Clinton in Jerusalem in December 1998, "...to reaffirm America's determination to stand with you as you take risks for peace." Israel took those risks, giving Arafat his armed mini-state and adding steadily to its territory under relentless pressure from secretary of state Madeleine Albright. And now? Terrorists attack innocents outside a Tel Aviv discothèque, in a Jerusalem pizzeria, in a Haifa café -- and even the highly restrained, entirely bloodless Israeli responses are denounced by the State Department as "provocative," "escalation," and "disproportionate."

Arafat's war has radicalized the Palestinian people, and mobilized them for a long, bloody, death struggle.

Arafat's war serves an even larger purpose, however. Apart from directly damaging Israel's economy and morale, apart from driving wedges between Israel and its allies, the war has helped radicalize the Palestinian people, embitter them against Israel, and mobilize them for a long, bloody, death struggle.

The suicide bombings and drive-by shootings have forced Israel to impose strict security measures. With every act of Israeli retaliation, with every long wait at a security checkpoint, with every day of economic hardship made worse by the closures, popular anger at Israel is stoked. It is the classic dialectic of guerrilla war. Whatever voices for peace there might have been among the Palestinians have been silenced: Many have been driven out (there has been an especially large emigration of Christians under duress), some have been radicalized, others executed as "collaborators." As demonstrated by Mao and Ho and countless other guerrilla leaders, revolutionary war isolates and eliminates the opposition. Those Palestinians wishing minimal civil relations with Israel live in fear for their lives.

When Arafat arrived eight years ago, no one knew what political direction the Palestinian population in the territories would take. Now the direction is clear. Oslo assumed that Arafat would prepare his people for peace. Instead, he has trained them for "popular war," down to the children who are indoctrinated with the glories of "martyrdom" and bloodlust from their very earliest days. (A video clip repeatedly shown on Palestinian TV features a children's song with the lyric, "How pleasant is the smell of martyrs, how pleasant the smell of land, the land enriched by the blood, the blood pouring out of a fresh body.") Arafat's war has secured the future: a new generation, raised on hate, mobilized and ready to carry the fight long after Arafat and his generation are gone.

Why should he stop? Every day is a victory. Every Palestinian death creates a martyr and a rallying cry. Every Israeli death sows more fear and despair in the enemy. Irrational? To western observers whose notion of human achievement ends with a good latte, a round of golf, and high-speed Internet access, this war seems insane. To a man who has dedicated 40 years of his life to molding his people to refight (and reverse) Israel's War of Independence, it makes perfect sense. Given what he has achieved in the last 11 months, why would he stop?

IV. SHARON'S WAY

Arafat won't. Which is why he must be stopped. Israel cannot go on like this. No country of 6 million people can sustain one Columbine massacre after another. (Think of how a single Columbine massacre traumatized a country of 280 million.) Arafat's war will give rise to Israel's war, a massive conventional attack on Arafat and his entire political-military infrastructure. That response is coming. Maybe not today, but tomorrow for sure.

For today, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has been temporizing, casting about for a strategy. First, he tried moderation. After the Dolphinarium disco massacre in which a suicide bomber murdered 21 youths and maimed dozens of others, Sharon did nothing. Instead, basking in international acclaim for his forbearance, he accepted the Tenet cease-fire. It proved worthless.

Less acclaimed is his attempt at counter-terrorism. The policy of targeting terrorist ringleaders has been called "assassination" and widely denounced. These denunciations are the epitome of hypocrisy. What country would not go after those who were sending bombs into the middle of its cities? In 1998, President Clinton ordered cruise missile attacks on Usama bin Laden's bases in Afghanistan. The obvious objective was to kill him. Or failing that, to kill enough of his followers to deter or slow down their operations. And when in 1986 the United States found Libya responsible for a terrorist bombing that killed two American soldiers in a Berlin discothèque, it did not send Qaddafi a subpoena. It bombed his tent.

Killing those who arise to kill you is a universal and perfectly legitimate tactic of war.

Killing those who arise to kill you is a universal and perfectly legitimate tactic of war. But legitimacy does not guarantee efficacy. In 1943, the United States deliberately shot down the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto, architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor. That did not stop the Pacific war. Nor will Sharon's antiterrorist "assassination" campaign stop this war.

After all, the entire campaign of terrorism, suicide bombings, drive-by shootings, mortar attacks, gun battles, and ambushes is carried out under the umbrella and protection, often the direction, of Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. When he wants to shut down the violence, he does. How do we know? Look what happens when he is momentarily frightened and trying to avert an expected massive Israeli response, as after the Dolphinarium massacre. The violence miraculously abates -- on his command and that of his eight separate security services.

To go after the terrorist ringleaders is certainly justified and might be marginally effective. But it misses the point. This is Arafat's war. The only approach is to go to the source.

What does that mean? It means doing to him what King Hussein did in 1970 when Arafat tried to destroy both the king and his Hashemite state: defeat him and expel him.

The diplomats prattle on that there is no military solution to this conflict. They were undoubtedly saying the same to King Hussein in 1970. Well, we do know that there is no diplomatic solution. Pressure from the United States, such as putting the PLO on the terrorist list, might force some tactical retreats or occasional cease-fires. But the root of the problem is intent. And Arafat's intentions have been laid bare for all to see.

So long as one could imagine him as a peace partner, simply wanting a better deal but ready in the end to accept a Jewish state living side-by-side with Palestine, one could imagine needing him. But Arafat has not wavered from the unbroken Palestinian tradition of rejecting compromise. In 1947, when the Palestinians were offered a state side-by-side with a Jewish state, they rejected it in favor of a war of extermination, a war that failed. In 1978, they were offered negotiations and autonomy after the Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. The PLO rejected the offer root and branch.

In 1993 in the Oslo accords, Arafat was offered recognition, self-government, and an end to occupation. The overture culminated in Ehud Barak's astonishing July 2000 offer of a Palestinian state with its capital in a shared Jerusalem. Arafat did not just turn that down, he never made a counter-offer. His counter-offer was war.

Arafat is not a peace partner. He is an obstacle to peace. And until he and the Palestinian Authority are removed, there is no hope for anything other than endless "war until victory," as Arafat assures his people almost daily.

Eventually, and inevitably, Israel will have to launch and fight its war. It will have to launch a massive lightning strike on the Palestinian Authority. Every element of Arafat's police state infrastructure will have to be destroyed: headquarters and commanders of his personal security services, police stations, weapons depots, training camps, communications and propaganda facilities, including radio, TV, and government-controlled newspapers. At the same time, Israel will have to strike and destroy the headquarters and leaders of Arafat's most deadly allies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israel knows where they are. But Israel has been reluctant to invade to seize and destroy. Eventually it will. Perhaps not after the next nail-bomb massacre; but after the one after that.

Israel has been reluctant to invade to seize and destroy. Eventually it will.

Who will then rule the Palestinians? Perhaps it will be chaos, but chaos is preferable to the current unholy alliance of Arafat's Palestinian Authority and the Islamic terrorists. Chaos will yield new leadership. That leadership, having seen the devastation and destruction wrought by Israel in response to Arafat's unyielding belligerence, might be inclined to eschew belligerence.

To have that effect, the Israeli strike will have to be massive and overwhelming. And it will have to be quick. The Arab states will be in the Security Council within hours, calling for the world to restrain Israel from trying to win a war that it did not start and did not want. The pressure on the United States will be enormous. But it must give Israel the few days it needs to disarm and defeat Arafat.

Of one thing we can be certain. Israel will not stay to rule. It has no intention of occupying Palestinian cities and people. The whole point of the Oslo experiment, and the terrible risks Israel undertook in the name of peace, was to stop being an occupying power and to give the Palestinians self-government and dignity. Israel will withdraw.

But because the fate and political direction of the Palestinians will remain uncertain, Israel must then take one supreme protective measure: enforce a separation between Palestinian and Israeli populations, until the Palestinians decide they actually want to live in openness and peace with the Jewish state. That means erecting a fence separating Israel and Palestinian territory. A largely overlooked fact in the current bloodshed is that not a single suicide bomber has come from Gaza. Why? Because there is a wall between Gaza and Israel. One can lob mortars over it, but sending suicide bombers through it is very difficult.

Jews are no lovers of walls. And this wall will be an admission of a great historic failure -- the failure to find a genuine partner for peace among the Palestinians. Nonetheless, the wall will need to be built. And it will need to remain in place until a Palestinian leadership arises willing to sign a real peace, accept the Jewish state, and forswear violence.

One final element. Under cover of war, Israel will need to abandon and evacuate its more far-flung settlements. To do so today would be disastrous. It would reward Palestinian violence and vindicate the Hezbollah model of making guerrilla war to force Israel into unilateral territorial retreat.

Some settlements must be abandoned, but only in the context of an Israeli war that reshapes the landscape by removing Arafat and the PLO, enforcing separation, and defining the new border between the Jewish and Palestinian states. The border must be rational: defensible for Israel, livable for the Palestinians. It cannot meander through every nook and valley of Judea and Samaria.

Strike, expel, separate, and evacuate. All within, probably, three to four days, at which time the world will have forced Israel to stop. Will the current Israeli government attempt this? That is unclear. On the one hand, the structure of the government militates against it. Sharon is locked in a national unity government with the very Labor doves who brought on the catastrophe of Oslo and feel the need to justify that folly by making yet more peace agreements with Arafat.

On the other hand, no country can tolerate the bloodshed daily inflicted on Israel by Arafat's war. At some point either this government will act, or it will fall and a new government will do what needs to be done.

Israel will, of course, be accused of creating a ghetto around the Palestinians. The victimizer cries foul again. For 34 years, since it came into possession of the West Bank (in another war it never sought), Israel has offered the Palestinians open borders, open traffic, open commerce. Why, within days of the conquest of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel returned the Muslim holy places at the Al Aqsa Mosque to Muslim authority. It tried to erase the Green Line between Israel and the territories, allowing Palestinians to work within Israel. And look at the Oslo accords. They groan with dozens of clauses inserted at Israel's insistence about joint cooperation -- economic, environmental, educational, industrial. The list is endless, idealistic, generous, and, of course, delusional: a one-handed handshake.

Arafat never had any intention of creating this New Middle East of civilized societies living side by side. Israel offered it, and what did it get in return? War. Neighbors who broke out in dance and song upon news of the massacre of innocents at the Jerusalem Sbarro.

Against such an enemy, there are only two choices. The status quo of endless guerrilla war, Arafat's war. Or Israel's war: attack, followed by evacuation and separation.

The choice is clear. It is only a matter of time.

Aish.com is non-political, and the ideas expressed here are those of the author alone. Published with permission of The Weekly Standard (theweeklystandard.com)

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About the Author

Charles Krauthammer is a sydicated columnist for the Washington Post, and a contributor on Fox News. He has been named by the Financial Times the most influential commentator in America, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary.

Visitor Comments: 69

Arafat looks like a slug and behaves as one would expect of a true slime life form.

(68)
Adi Barzilai,
December 16, 2001 12:00 AM

An Excellent idea, tough but still workable.

The essay although long, is a finite piece of work. It explicitly examines the problem and finds a solution to this. Expeling Arafat is the best way, even killing him if the chance comes. Isreali leaders do know the expeling Arafat will led the PA to anarchy, but the again the anarchy will weaken the Palestinians and it will be like Lebanon and Afghanistan. Two things will happan, frist a strong leader will take over, ethier Sari Nussibah the Moderate or Marwan Barghoti the hard-liner. Sari will most likely endrose peace one may think Marwan won't, however after seeing how Isreal treated Arafat he'd be scared stiff. He would now know that to destroy will be a huge mistake, therefore Marwan would throw this notion away and commit to a real peace. Not for international recongnition but out of fear for what Isreal will do to him, and to hurry up build the Palestinian State and tell his people "no more attacks, the Intifada is over, we never came to the goal of liberating Palestine from the river to the sea, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is all we could liberate. So lets stop fighting Isreal, have peace with so that we could finnialy build our state." The Arab Leugue might reject the stance that the Palestinians take after Arafat's expulsion, then tough. They keep having their grudges with Isreal but in the end they're only hurting themselves. If Arafat really did care abuot his people then why in the friggin hell does he keep making them look like "oppressed" people. Why didn't he accept Barak's offer of idependence in the West Bank and Gaza region with a shared Jerusalem as the capitol. He could sloved the Palestinian problem this way and thier better. It has become clear now that Arafat no longer cares about his people, his "revolution" is just a ploy to aggradize his "glory and power." A better way how about Marwan and Sari lead a coup to overthrow Arafat with the help of other Palestinian people, I'm sure they're tired of his dictatorship and want his insane war to stop. If that happans then Isreal won't be held accountable, and that the Arab League will have to think of pretty good excuse to attack Isreal now. I wonder what would the face of the United Nations and the Europeon Union would look like if they learn that the Paletinian people overthrown Arafat all on their own, they would be so shocked.

(67)
Anonymous,
November 26, 2001 12:00 AM

israel needs to defeat terrorists-occupy palestine

I believe that the only way that the state of Israel, will ever stop the terrorists from attacking Israeli civilians, is if israel's military forces, invade and occupy the West Bank and Gaza, for at least a year. Israel will have to do this, in order to defeat the different terrorist organizations, which are inside the West Bank and Gaza.

(66)
Anonymous,
October 26, 2001 12:00 AM

Israel must stop Arafat before too many Israelis are lost

Terrorists are not reaonable or men of
compromise. They know what they want and are willing to kill the masses to get it. When will Israel realize that Arafat will whittle away at Israel until there is nothing left. Sharon must act soon, regardless of the opinions or
outrage of the U.S. After all, it is Israel who is being attacked almost daily by an unceasing hostile enemy bent on its destruction.You cannot appease someone who hates you by giving them land or power. The only thing terrorists ike Arafat respect is force and Israel needs to use it soon if the attacks dont stop and if Arafat doesnt call off the suicide bombings and other killings. Right must prevail.Evil hopes to feed on fear but God will help Israel to keep that which He gave to her..the land.

(65)
John Swails,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Keep up the good work.

Great article, astute, to the point, idenitifies precisely the problem which is overlooked, ignored, and evaded by the world's leaders and, now unfortunately, the new administration. Caught in the same old trap of lies and half-truths, we will stumble into new morasses of trouble. Only this time, the trouble will be in our own backyard with the added venom of weapons of mass destruction.

(64)
Mark Stephens,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Don't give the Palestinians anything

I enjoyed Mr. Krauthammer's tome until he advocates repeating the mistake of 1967. Israel should attack the PLO and destroy it. Expel them - completely. No walls. No fences. No evacuations of settlements. Take back the land and send the so-called "palestinians" into the Sinai to fend for themselves. Then the U.N. can take care of them with food and whatever else they wish. Rid the land of Israel of the scourge. That is the only real solution. We just need someone to stand up and make the decision.

(63)
Joey Redmond,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

When will we learn...

It's time to deal with people like Arafat in the only way they understand. We must understand that negotiations just don't work sometimes. When a person makes an error once, that is a mistake. Twice, and you question his judgement. Three times, and he's a fool. Arafat is making Israel and America look like fools. It's time for him to go, not to exile, but from the earth. You must kill every man, woman, or child that supports terrorism. If we do not, they WILL kill our men, women, and children at each opporutnity they receive.

(62)
lise dolev,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

I can only praise you for the clarity of your article that goes directly to the heart of the problem especially today 3 weeks after the WTC disaster. We need those articles to be more published. Thank you

(61)
Lara Hatam,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Awesome Article!

Why can't our government see things as clearly as Mr. Krauthammer re: Arafat and Isreal? This is one of the most concise and wise articles I have read on this subject. Thank you.

(60)
leon leventhal,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

a classic

Charles Krauthammer summary of Middle East dillema and his solution to this problem must be studied in evry corner of the world, and especially by these beaurocrats in our state department. It is a masterpiece, clear, to the point and almost complete. I commend you for reprinting it. Krauthammer together with Dave Dolan, Kagan and others offer a solid opinion, expertise and solution, which together with Netanyahu's delivery can help Jewish people to fight our sworn enemy.

(59)
Phillip Williams,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

I agree wholeheartedly, and the sooner the better.

(58)
Marilyn Phillips,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Arafat's War: How To End It

An excellent and well analyzed column describing the history of Arafat's evil manipulations toward the West in order to gain his objectives to menace and destroy Israel. It will take an Act of God, it seems, to corral, punish, and abort the terrorist initiatives!!!

(57)
Samuel Schwartz,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Isreal must reach out to the Christian American community

The Christian community in general is most supportive of Isreal and needs to be sought after. Most Christians support Isreal and must apply presure on their congressmen to aid,support and defend Isreal. It is up to them to prevent another Jewish Holocost. This time it is person by person,piece by piece and in the end all Arab states will join together and make war on her. I believe if it goes that far Isreal will have to use nukes if they feel they would not survive.

(56)
Frank Verano,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

What I thought all along

Excellent! It reflects the evolution of events of historical significance. The denoument is yet to come. Frank

(55)
Brian Mitts,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

If only American mainstream media would share this message.

I can only be amazed at the restraint of Israel. It is my hope that the people of the United States will soon come to realize the folly of not backing Israel 100%, and drive the terrorists that assail it into the ground along with those who have attacked the U.S. .

(54)
Anonymous,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Go for it Israel !

Why isnt this information on the front pages of every major newspaper in the U.S. (and the EU for that matter)? Why is it that the rest of the world cant see things that are as clear as this? At least us in the West. As an American, I say.... Go for it Israel. Crush them that terrorize you. We sure as hell are. No reason you cant do the same. Of course I am sure that political timimg is important. Why? Hey, beats me? I'm not a politician, but I dont think you need our OK to do what you need to do to protect yourselves. We are, and we haven't asked anyone's "permission". We dont have to have anyone's help to avenge the terrorist action against our country. We would do it with or without all this coalition stuff. The key is that we are not going to stop after Afganistan is cleaned up. You just take care of your backyard... We and our friends will take care of the rest. All in good time... As one of the heroes that attacked the hijackers and crashed the plane into the field in Pennsylvania said.... "Let's Roll!"
God Bless You Israel, and God Bless the USA !

(53)
Anonymous,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

I agree

I agree. Israel must eliminate the terrorists which plague it with almost daily killing. Arafat must go. The U.S. must not stop the Israelis. I was very dissapointed in President Bush when Islamic Jihad, Hamas , and Hezbolla were not considered terrorist groups. Who is he kidding?

(52)
Gordon Pilcher,
October 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Superb Analysis: One More Step

Analysis is superb and right on. Now with the attack of Sept. 11th, why not include the PLO terrorists in the international groups that have to be eliminated? Bush said ALL terrorists.

Let's also not forget that God promised this entire land to Israel FOREVERMORE. No giveaway at all.

(51)
Haro;d Singer,
September 16, 2001 12:00 AM

A well needed summary and expose

How interesting that it takes a terrible
calamity and violent and senselss act of
terror to bring the world out of its
Ostrich like hybernation.

It is not, however, a time to say...
"I told you So" it is not a time to take unthought and unplanned retaliation
against an enemy which has found a new way to conduct war. It is a time to take well planned, well thought out action that will not destroy innocent
people while the guilty hide like cowards in the security of caves.

History seems to have come full circle...Man began life on this earth in
the shelter of caves, now...will the last man of violence end in a cave...

I can appreciate those who come together in whatever way is necessary, whether it is through prayer or through
prayer, volunteerism, financial contribution or any act a person is capable of giving to help achieve a true
and final solution to end the small bands of senseless, faceless terror...
Through such giving...we will achieve our success of making the world a place
where peace will be final...

(50)
,
September 14, 2001 12:00 AM

Timely

I am reading this article on Friday. Tuesday, America suffered a terrible blow. I pray that the world has learned what Israel has suffered. And now, be willing to work together to end the terror.
May G_d help us.

(49)
Bryan Spector,
September 11, 2001 12:00 AM

This opitimises the trouble in the middle east

This article goes to the very heart of the problem. It is not a war we can win but a war we must never the less fight. I feel that more articles of this nature should be published and distributed world wide

(48)
Anonymous,
September 10, 2001 12:00 AM

congrats on a job well done!

Fabulous analysis and strictly on the mark!!!!

(47)
Rob,
September 9, 2001 12:00 AM

Lessons of History

Whether the Israelis realize it or not, war is inevitable. To prevent any further bloodshed, Israel has no choice but to declare war on the Palestinians and make all Palestinians prisoners of war and deport them from Israel and NEVER let them come back.

Any other western civilized country such as the USA or Canada or Britain would have done that a long time ago.

(46)
Ben Eliahou,
September 9, 2001 12:00 AM

Kudos for Krauthammer

All those nations who failed to walk out of the World Conference on racism in South Africa when the US and Israel did are victims of the Palestinian and Arab propaganda machine. Despite written commitment at Oslo to prepare his people for peace with Israel, Arafat has orchestrated a vilification campaign attacking not only Israel but Jews, Judaism, and Jewish history. The viciously anti-Israel language of the resolutions should have been an eye opener for those countries who still feel that the Palestinian Yasser Arafat deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.

The fact that the final draft was changed will never erase the grotesque and offensive assault on Israel and the Jewish people. The Arab and Muslim leagues have revived the venom and malignancy of the Nazi era . Norway's attempt to soften the language of the first draft, met with a wall of resistance from three nations recognized the world over for their "sterling" human rights record. The Egyptians insisted that Israel be termed a racist state; the Syrians repeated Holocaust-denial statements; and the Iranians declared that anti-Semitism was not a form of contemporary racism that should be dealt with at the conference.

Instead of being a leader, Arafat has used his people as a pawn these many years. The Palestinians are suffering, but not because of Israel. Almost a decade of teaching hate has produced a generation where suicide bombing is elevated as a national goal. We expected nothing better from Arafat. We were disappointed and hurt at those many countries who jumped on the bandwagon of hatred at this bizarre show in Durban. The defense of human rights has been ingrained into the Jewish people ever since they were given the Torah at Mount Sinai. Each year Jews throughout the world relive their exodus from slavery in Egypt. The gall of these Arabs to try to teach Jews about human rights and slavery !

Sincerely,

Ben Eliahou

(45)
Meredith Neria,
September 9, 2001 12:00 AM

Mr Krauthammer says it like it is and brings clarity to a subject that has been muddied by countless misstatements in the media. Thank you!

(44)
leslie Satenstein,
September 8, 2001 12:00 AM

Harsh words, but reality is there

Instead of accepting the word martyrdom as the Palistinians are saying, indicate that all religions forbid human sacrifice, and that includes children and adults, some of whom are suffering from having their ability to ralationalise about right and wrong destroyed by intense propaganda.

(43)
Anonymous,
September 8, 2001 12:00 AM

Great article

The war may be the last option. I consider myself a pacifist, but after reading about the Holocaust I have only one thought: "Never, Never, Never Again". I have complete confidence in the leaders of Israel. I also have hope that our tradition and history will prevail over our differences. However, I am concerned for our fellows that fell in apathy and indiference, I would recomend reading Treblinka (Steiner, 19967)and awake. Before ask Hashem to look after us, we should look after ourselves. Shabat Shalon, Ruth Chaya. (9/8/01)

(42)
sandy martin,
September 8, 2001 12:00 AM

I am for Israel

It is too bad that war must take place, but it certainly will............in fact, there will be a Great War and only GOD will be able to stop it........I know Israel doesn't have many tourists, but I have been there twice in less than a year.........I am supporting Israel as best I can........I am a Christian but am Jewish in my heart and know that there are many like me......

I have read Mr. Krauthammer's article on Israel in Time magazine as well as "Arafat's War". I not only congratulate Time for printing it but also appreciate that Mr. Krauthammer is informing a world-wide readership of the true facts of the conflict in Israel. I am appalled at the stand of some government and NGO agencies in their response to Israel's plight. As a Canadian who followed the terrible story of the UN's betrayal of General Romeo Delaire in Ruanda, I have now totally lost faith in the will of the UN to uphold its mandate after the stand it has taken in Durban this week, bowing to pressure to include Zionism as racist on the conference agenda. Hopefully, articles such as those by Mr. Krauthammer, and the responses they invoke, will boost the morale of Israelis and let them know they are not without support around the world.

(39)
Anonymous,
September 7, 2001 12:00 AM

Outstanding!

Well done Aish! Your selection of articles is oustanding!

Keep up the great work.

(38)
K. West,
September 6, 2001 12:00 AM

Arafat's War-How to End It

Having just finished reading "Arafat's War-How To End It", by Charles Krauthammer, all I can say is "Bravo!".
This is the most excellent piece that I have seen yet.

I just wonder though, how long WILL Israel let herself be a doormat for her enemies? I don't understand why she ever has become such, much less why she continues to do so year end and year out!

One more thing I do not understand is how can any Israeli Jewish citizen be so blinded to their collective past? I mean sure, they may not as individuals have lived through the last nearly two thousand years, but they as a people have gone through some truly evil periods where they were treated worse than even dogs deserve to be treated, much less human beings!

How can you all ignore this and the fact that not more than fifty years ago your lives were as cheap as the dust of the earth? How? How can you justify the division that is in your people? It has not been that long ago guys! Wake up before it is too late! Unite and fight!

Never again! Remember?

-A non-Jew

(37)
J. Stephen Crabtree,
September 6, 2001 12:00 AM

Embraces the reality of existance for Israel's future

Best article I have read anywhere that exposes the problem and sadly shows the only avenue left for Israel.The suffering will continue unless action is taken quickly.

(36)
Anonymous,
September 5, 2001 12:00 AM

Excellent!

It is like the Holocaust. Israeli leadership appears to be in denial about what is going to happen, what needs to happen. The handwriting is on the wall and no one wants to believe the message.

(35)
Anonymous,
September 5, 2001 12:00 AM

It's time for the U.S. government to speak out

One of the best of the many articles by various columnists on both the political right and left. What has been missing are direct forceful statements to the world by the United States and other "Israel friendly governments" ( this term may be an oxymoron). The outrage of Arafat's training children to be terrorists in summer camps and schools with textbooks which say "THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO DESTROYING ISRAEL" will only be brought to the attention of the rest of the world when it is forcefuly condemned by the United States and other governments. Only then will there be a chance that the world will finally understand that the Palestinian pleas for help from the "harsh onslaught" by the oppressive Israeli government are nothing more than attempts to mask their outrageous oppression of their own people and the dehumanization of future generations of Palestinians. A society which for all intents and purposes is closed and controlled by corrupt dictators who do not allow free expression of thought can only be penetrated by massive preasure and expressions of outrage by governments and citizens of the free world. If Hashem would move the oil reserves from under the Arab lands to Israel you would see a rapid awakening by the rest of the world to the ourtageous treatment by the Arab dictators of their own people. Until then the governments of the free world have an obligation to do something other than sit on their hands.

(34)
Don Ramsey,
September 5, 2001 12:00 AM

Israel Must Fight

I think the suggestion to attack, evacuate and seperate is the only way the violence carried on by Arafat can be stopped. But in the attack they must eliminate Arafat!

(33)
Anonymous,
September 5, 2001 12:00 AM

Need more social pressure

Israel, as a country, has a right to exist and defend itself. That is what the government is doing. I think part of the solution lies in realizing that the real enemy is not Arafat and not the Palestinians but the hatred they have for us. I think this enemy needs to be fought on a different level from within the society of Israel, not from the government of Israel. To attack hatred, one needs to change the heart of another. The government is playing its role, I think the Rabbis and wise men in Israel should play theirs too in trying to combat the hatred.

(32)
Anonymous,
September 5, 2001 12:00 AM

We must learn from history !

Many here in the US don't know the Palestine/ Israel history or have forgotten it, yet it is crucial in determining an action or plan. I have thought all along that Arafat was a Guerrilla/Terrorist (one doesn't change who he is for land) and that the Oslo accord with Arafat would only entrap Israel eventually in a War within its borders. I'm sadden to see it happening every day, while the rest of the Arab world becomes more united against Israel. I don't know what the right answer is to stop the terrorism, but GOD is with Israel! Jerusalem is his city and he will stand with Israel even if no-one else will.

(31)
Judith Classen,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

A brilliant article

Thanks, Krauthammer. Honestly, why has it taken so long for people to see it and to say it!! You, have always seen through the rhetoric.....I sure hope Colin and George are listening!!!

(30)
Anonymous,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Excellent article which all Jews throughout the world

should read. It sums up the problem thoroughly and realistically. Charles Krauthammer has syndicated aricles in major newspapers....why not publish this one in segments, for all to read? Undoubtedly he might run into problems with the editors, but this way the information would be widely distributed for all to read and evaluate. I personally have a family in Israel, and am frightened by what implications would evolve from what he suggests, but perhaps it is the only answer.

(29)
Anonymous,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

torah

Israel has had war in some form for many generations. Spiritual and physical. This is a spiritual war as much as it is a physical one. Israels' children must unite under Hashem and His Torah for this to end. Much of Israel, as a nation, spread all over the world, is distant from that which sets her apart, The Holy One of Israel.

(28)
Anonymous,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

All the zionist people in palestine will go back to russia and poland and palestine will be cleaned and remain pure arabic land .Remember America will not help you forever

(27)
Anonymous,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

War is Hell

There can be no compromises. Israel must go to war against the Palestinian forces in the West Bank and Gaza and wipe out the PLO. Regardless of what the world has to say; regardless if this embroils the world into a major conflict, we cannot let this Holocaust take place. Not again. Never Again!

(26)
,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

mr. krauthammer makes an excellent analysis of the historical development of the current situation and how it stands today. his ideas about its disposition though, while well intentioned and certainly justifiable from israel's defensive perspective are as politically feasable as the late meir kahana's. to suggest a mini-war using the full offensive capabilities of the formidable israeli army would be in this CNN dominated info age the equivalent of political suicide. it may seem unfair but the U.S as the lone global superpower can respond effectively to whatever provocation from iraq or any other roque nation that they perceiv as a direct threat to their interests without concern as to the effect on the political stability of the us government. the same cannot be said for the comparitively young israel which just recently celebrated its 50 birthday as a soveirgn state, and has had difficulty weathering the transition of numerous ideologically diverse governments occupying the helm of the knesset in a relatively short span of time. even now the sharon government finds itself in a mortal confrontation with its reluctant coalition partner the labor party which is holding internal elections to appoint a new leader most likely avroham burg who has made it publicly clear that he will not hesitate to withdraw the fragile support of his party should he feel it necessary. Israel at this time surely cannot handle the political fallout that would immediately follow even preliminary actions to exile arafat.
aside from those concerns i also respectfully disagree with mr. krauthammers assertion that chaos in the absence of leadership on the palestinian side would be better than what exists now: the intentional unexercised ability on arafats part to restrain and curb the violence. Groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad which have political aspirations beyond their military capacities are currently vying for power and are at odds and often clash with arafats security forces. these groups have enormous grass roots support from within the palestinian population and would see arafats exile as an oppertunity to replace him. as it stands now the majority of palestinians whether once hopeful for peace or not , after a year of what must be acknowleged as humiliating conditions , necessary perhaps but humiliating nonetheless, stand united against israel. as such the group that will ascend to power after arafats exile will most certainly not be the moderate less vocal organizations that everybody is holding out for. on the contrary the resulting "chaos " in the void of a leader would result in unbridled fury unleashed between competing extremist groups not in internal clashes but jointly aimed at showing an ability to incur the most damage upon Israel by any one group. the emerging victor will have shown themselves the best and most effecient and able to inflict the biggest devastation on israel. for this reason i feel that no effort should be made right now to topple the Palestinian Authority and instead pinpoint attacks aimed at the heads of the snake as done with ali abu mustafa along with political hits as shown by the annexation of the Orient House will be shown to have a gradual yet effective impact on the terrible situation.

(25)
Richard Klevansky,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

practical remedy but can not be applied

The rest of the world will not tolerate this kind of solution by us, to say nothing about what the surrounding Arab states might do. They are just waiting to attack us once the internal fight with the Palestineans appears to tie us down countrywide.

(24)
Anonymous,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Come on, tell us how you REALLY feel!

What a load of hooey. Arafat didn't start this "war," Sharon did, and I'm not even sure he wants to end it. Face it, if or when Arafat is "taken care of," another boogie man will be found. It's tragic over there, but it seems no one has the courage to stop it.

(23)
Anonymous,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Call for Action

I really enjoy Charles Krauthammer. And once again he brought a historical and factual article to us. I received it from a number of people - all mention it with praise.

Very truthfull and with the call to action. Safire, Will and Krauthammer are my favorite.

Thanks!

(22)
Anonymous,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Charlie hit the nail on the head. There is only one rational choice left for Israel: to dismantle the PLO, Hamas and Islamic Jihad and send them packing once and for all. So Israel will be criticized. So what? Better to be criticized than eulogized.

(21)
Anonymous,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

A well reasoned and rational analysis of the terrible dilemna that Israel faces.

George Will recently did an analysis of the Israel/Palestinian problem with similar conclusions to Krauthammer: a short war followed by a big wall! It is sad to contemplate such a scenario at the beginning of the 3rd millenium. It is obvious that Arafat's intentions are to bleed Israel to death and to get support from the "international community" most of which are states with remote connections to democracy if any. I dread the day that the attack takes place but I see no reasonable alternative given the treachery and evil purposes of Arafat.

(20)
Ben Cypress,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

Great Article

It is about time that Israelinitiates
this articles opinions. It is unfortunate that they are letting USA do the bidding of Arafat. The State Dept
was always in the Arab Corner.I call them anti-semites. We the Jewish People of America will have to stand with Israel or we will be devoured by the dipolamcy of our country.

(19)
Silky Pitterman,
September 4, 2001 12:00 AM

This sounds like the physical answer

This article is well thought out and it does sound like it is the only answer. In a purely physical world, it probably is the answer but we live in a spiritual world. I don't remember which king it was who prayed to Hashem to do battle for him becouse he was not on the spiritual level to have miricles done for him in battle. In the morning, the Jews found that Hashem had killed the enemy overnight.
My only answer is to pray and pray and pray. Israel must arm herself becouse this is still a physical world, but I don't think the answer to this terrible war seems anywhere near.

(18)
Anonymous,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

One people one hart

A very very good article.
I agree with the opinion of Michal Glasser that there is no jewish leader!! If we had a leader as strong and powerfull as the Palestinans have we might be able to fight back. Our problem is the problems within our nation. If that will be solved the outside problem is also solved! We have no unity as a people we are fighting each other instead of making peace with each other we seek peace with the Palestnians. Respect and standing as one Jewih nation has to be accieved. For jews in and out side Israel! Only that will bring the true peace.

(17)
Kerenn,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

Too bad the Western journalists won't read this...

This is a truly excellent article, which puts things back in perspective in a brilliant way. I guess my only regret is that so few Western journalists and politicians will get to read it and get a chance to change their mind: published on a Jewish site, what are the chances of them coming across it?
This is not just a matter of religious belief: the existence of the State of Israel is a political issue; its survival is, too...

(16)
Lee Deems,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

Finally!

This is something I have said for years - Arafat cannot be trusted. Finally, someone else, Charles Krauthammer, has voiced opinions similar to mine. A point of disagreement is that a "fence", or wall, cannot be a solution! The Arab nations must stop preaching hate, and the European nations, who got rid of one Hitler, must now stop supporting millions of Hitlers for the sake of oil. The world's solution must be a resolute effort to find a substitute for oil and end Mid East blackmail.

(15)
Anonymous,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

Excellent analysis.

The article is an excellent summary of the situation in Israel. It is also depressing. The author could have referred to the U.S. debacle in Viet Nam as a parallel. My only problem; will the world let Israel get away with its brief war? I wish I could say yes.

(14)
Ian Ellul,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

At last!!!

At last somenone who actually says it as it is. Now is the time to do exactly what is really needed for our interests. Arafat does not care for 'his' own people - it is unfortunately not our job to do so. Let's learn from our own past, unite as one family and have faith in Ha Shem! The rest will follow naturally because through unity we will find strength to sort this out once and for all!

(13)
Laureen Sussman,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

Charles Krauthammer

This should be required reading for all politicians and, especially, for the US State Department. The Arabs have done a good job of twisting words and making the world see what they want the world to see, rather than what is their actual goal, as it has always been. Israel needs to learn how to combat the langauge as well as the actual war.

(12)
Anonymous,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

Your not the only one who thinks this way.

This article shows that you can't keep that such a big lie as Arafat's peace can't be kept away from people for too long. I just hope that this article will make more like it so people can know the truth.

(11)
Anonymous,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

We will lose sovernity at end of war with Arafat.

The current state of Israel has a lot to lose if this plan is enacted.
Arafat and the PLO may lose their lives but we will lose our Capitol.
Int'l forces will be forced on us, to control Arabs who have decended to tribal conflicts and other unforseen results of this war. Pray for the coming of one who can untie this gordian knot, some 3,500 years old.

(10)
David DeBord,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

What Isreal must do

If you do not act, then eventually you will be faced with another "Holocaust"! The way of peace has proved "fruitless", & all you have accomplished,is emboldening the plo.Deadly force, is all that they understand, once they recieve it, then they back off,only to clamor for a "peace process" that your politicians always let drag out to the point that this process begins again!Genocide of the plo is not the answer, but a badly beaten plo is! Isreal, should never leave the might, & use of it's military out of the equation!

(9)
Martin Stahl,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

Do not trust them!

We can't trust them.
The stories which Arafat tells in Washington / Camp David or London or ... (might be Berlin in the future) - "the Arabs want peace" - are quite different from the stories told by him in Damaskus or Cairo - "kick the Jews out of Palaestine, there is NO state Israel"

(8)
Anonymous,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

Absolutely on point!

I have read this article with great interest and complee concurrence. I fully agree with the author and feel that these things need to be said, and repeated often. They were long in coming. The only voice that has maintained this through the years was Rabbi Meir Kahane and his followers. Clearly, there seems to be no choice but complete separation.

(7)
Sarah Shapiro,
September 3, 2001 12:00 AM

As one who lives here in Israel, I appreciate these words. They serve as a relief from the sense of being in a blind world.

(6)
Murray Kupersmith,
September 2, 2001 12:00 AM

Let's take Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize away.

This article is, indeed, a magnum opus! It is so well written it is easy to see why Mr. Krauthammer received the Pulitzer.

I suggest that Mr. Krauthammer be asked to chair a mission to have Arafat's Nobel Peace revoked. This idea has been suggested; but. to my knowledge nothing has materialized thus far.

(5)
ken weiss,
September 2, 2001 12:00 AM

eloquent & moving

i was glad to be able to have , in a concise maner, a total & oblective description of the current situation. i do not get this from the print or tv liberals.
Thank uou.

(4)
Shira Levin,
September 2, 2001 12:00 AM

Arafat's war and how to stop it.

I never had any delusions regarding the Oslo Accords and the so called "Peace Process". I have never trusted Arafat and suspected all along what he really
wanted was Israel's extinction.

(3)
Anonymous,
September 2, 2001 12:00 AM

Very good article until the end.A wall will not work.

The article was very good until the end. He makes no comment about the arabs living in Israel proper. The only solution is the TRANSFER of the arabs with fair compensation. They will never accept Israel in 10 generations and demographics are working against Israel. The Israelis did not want Rabbi Kahane so they got Arafat. It was all predicted by the Rabbi.

(2)
Nathan Jurist,
September 2, 2001 12:00 AM

Excellent article

A wonderfully written piece of work, unfortunately too long for comfortable reading.My only question???where are the Israeli Public Relations people? Why isn't there more of this sort of information available to the "outside" world? With all the great Israeli minds...this is their ONLY major failing!

(1)
Michael Glasser,
September 2, 2001 12:00 AM

We need Jewish Leadership

After reading this article and seeing how Aish responded by saying it's the auhor's opinion.Confirms my conviction that the last good leader the Jewish people had was Moshe.

I'm told that it's a mitzvah to become intoxicated on Purim. This puzzles me, because to my understanding, it is not considered a good thing to become intoxicated, period.

One of the characteristics of the at-risk youth is their use of drugs, including alcohol. In my experience, getting drunk doesn't reveal secrets. It makes people act stupid and irresponsible, doing things they would never do if they were sober. Also, I know a lot about the horrible health effects of abusing alcohol, because I work at a research center that focuses on addiction and substance abuse.

Also, I am an alcoholic, which means that if I drink, very bad things happen. I have not had a drink in 22 years, and I have no intention of starting now. Surely there must be instances where a person is excused from the obligation to drink. I don't see how Judaism could ever promote the idea of getting drunk. It just doesn't seem right.

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Putting aside for a moment all the spiritual and philosophical reasons for getting drunk on Purim, this remains an issue of common sense. Of course, teenagers should be warned of the dangers of acute alcohol ingestion. Of course, nobody should drink and drive. Of course, nobody should become so drunk to the point of negligence in performing mitzvot. And of course, a recovering alcoholic should not partake of alcohol on Purim.

Indeed, the Code of Jewish Law explicitly says that if one suspects the drinking may affect him negatively, then he should NOT drink.

Getting drunk on Purim is actually one of the most difficult mitzvot to do correctly. A person should only drink if it will lead to positive spiritual results - e.g. under the loosening affect of the alcohol, greater awareness will surface of the love for God and Torah found deep in the heart. (Perhaps if we were on a higher spiritual level, we wouldn't need to get drunk!)

Yet the Talmud still speaks of an obligation on Purim of "not knowing the difference between Blessed is Mordechai and Cursed is Haman." How then should a person who doesn't drink get the point of “not knowing”? Simple - just go to sleep! (Rama - OC 695:2)

All this applies to individuals. But the question remains - does drinking on Purim adversely affect the collective social health of the Jewish community?

The aversion to alcoholism is engrained into Jewish consciousness from a number of Biblical and Talmudic sources. There are the rebuking words of prophets - Isaiah 28:1, Hosea 3:1 with Rashi, and Amos 6:6, and the Zohar says that "The wicked stray after wine" (Midrash Ne'alam Parshat Vayera).

It is well known that the rate of alcoholism among Jews has historically been very low. Numerous medical, psychological and sociological studies have confirmed this. The connection between Judaism and sobriety is so evident, that the following conversation is reported by Lawrence Kelemen in "Permission to Receive":

When Dr. Mark Keller, editor of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, commented that "practically all Jews do drink, and yet all the world knows that Jews hardly ever become alcoholics," his colleague, Dr. Howard Haggard, director of Yale's Laboratory of Applied Physiology, jokingly proposed converting alcoholics to the Jewish religion in order to immerse them in a culture with healthy attitudes toward drinking!

Perhaps we could suggest that it is precisely because of the use of alcohol in traditional ceremonies (Kiddush, Bris, Purim, etc.), that Jews experience such low rates of alcoholism. This ceremonial usage may actually act like an inoculation - i.e. injecting a safe amount that keeps the disease away.

Of course, as we said earlier, all this needs to be monitored with good common sense. Yet in my personal experience - having been in the company of Torah scholars who were totally drunk on Purim - they acted with extreme gentleness and joy. Amid the Jewish songs and beautiful words of Torah, every year the event is, for me, very special.

Adar 12 marks the dedication of Herod's renovations on the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 11 BCE. Herod was king of Judea in the first century BCE who constructed grand projects like the fortresses at Masada and Herodium, the city of Caesarea, and fortifications around the old city of Jerusalem. The most ambitious of Herod's projects was the re-building of the Temple, which was in disrepair after standing over 300 years. Herod's renovations included a huge man-made platform that remains today the largest man-made platform in the world. It took 10,000 men 10 years just to build the retaining walls around the Temple Mount; the Western Wall that we know today is part of that retaining wall. The Temple itself was a phenomenal site, covered in gold and marble. As the Talmud says, "He who has not seen Herod's building, has never in his life seen a truly grand building."

Some people gauge the value of themselves by what they own. But in reality, the entire concept of ownership of possessions is based on an illusion. When you obtain a material object, it does not become part of you. Ownership is merely your right to use specific objects whenever you wish.

How unfortunate is the person who has an ambition to cleave to something impossible to cleave to! Such a person will not obtain what he desires and will experience suffering.

Fortunate is the person whose ambition it is to acquire personal growth that is independent of external factors. Such a person will lead a happy and rewarding life.

With exercising patience you could have saved yourself 400 zuzim (Berachos 20a).

This Talmudic proverb arose from a case where someone was fined 400 zuzim because he acted in undue haste and insulted some one.

I was once pulling into a parking lot. Since I was a bit late for an important appointment, I was terribly annoyed that the lead car in the procession was creeping at a snail's pace. The driver immediately in front of me was showing his impatience by sounding his horn. In my aggravation, I wanted to join him, but I saw no real purpose in adding to the cacophony.

When the lead driver finally pulled into a parking space, I saw a wheelchair symbol on his rear license plate. He was handicapped and was obviously in need of the nearest parking space. I felt bad that I had harbored such hostile feelings about him, but was gratified that I had not sounded my horn, because then I would really have felt guilty for my lack of consideration.

This incident has helped me to delay my reactions to other frustrating situations until I have more time to evaluate all the circumstances. My motives do not stem from lofty principles, but from my desire to avoid having to feel guilt and remorse for having been foolish or inconsiderate.

Today I shall...

try to withhold impulsive reaction, bearing in mind that a hasty act performed without full knowledge of all the circumstances may cause me much distress.

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